Friday, 26 April 2013

This seems a very popular topic on Drawbridge as Natalie's version of this gets
many MANY hits. There is no topic today, so I did this. Drew it yesterday and
inked it this morn to get my hands going. This is Jesus taking aim at Satan who
is far off camera eating lunch at one of those little bagel shops. He's actually
eating a cinnamon raisin bagel.That's how you know he's evil.

Monday, 22 April 2013

It's earthday today and the first thing that came to my mind is the iconic Minecraft dirtblock. Perhaps this implies that I am too cut-off from the natural world? Or perhaps that Minecraft has taken up rather a lot of my leisure time. The game itself is a hyper rationalised version of the real world , complete with a simple ecology. One must harvest the bones of dead monsters to fertilize your crops. Irrigation is crucially important. Sadly the industrial aspects of the game are such that atmospheric pollution is not part of the game mechanic, but the thing about Minecraft is that it is always evolving , so it might be part of a future update. Perhaps increased toxins in the air will cause Creepers to get bigger and nastier...yes that would work. Perhaps in the real world that would be good too, dropping litter would be accompanied by a hissing noice and before you can turn around there's an almighty KABOOM! Yes that would be good for the heads of many fortune 500 companies too.

Monday, 8 April 2013

I never thought I would or could ever do a remotely flattering portrait of Margaret Thatcher. She sprawls across my earliest political memories like a carnivorous spider. It would be too easy to describe her as a monster , though she certainly fostered many monstrous things. She was as cold and without mercy as idealogs tend to be, but I think it's her arrogance that I found most offensive. It's ironic that she bemoaned the 'Nanny State' when she pretty much embodied that kind of suffocating 'it's for your own good' cruelty. At one time I thought that her death would make me very happy. Now I don't really care.

The great Carmine Infantino died yesterday at the age of 87. It would be impossible to sum up his career and his influence here. Sufficed to say that it was profound.
One of my early editors compared my work to his once . He didn't mean it in a flattering way, but I decided to take it as a compliment. I think he found my linework a bit too angular, to fast and stylized. One of the hallmarks of Infantino's work was its speed and confidence.
I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Mr Infantino once and told him about that. He asked to see my work. Sadly I had nothing to show him at the time. Something that I regret now. Rest in peace maestro.

Wednesday, 3 April 2013

I borrowed Iain Banks' The Bridge from my flatmate Paul Aspden just after I finished college. I was told that Banks was brilliant but that the book was a difficult one. I was blown away by it! It was grand, ambitious,imaginative and funny. As much as it was a work of fantasy it also seemed VERY real to me. Which isn't too shocking as Banks apparently wrote the book under the shadow of the Forth Rail Bridge. which I had driven past for many years and gone over more than once in a train.
His debut novel The Wasp Factory similarly blew me away and seemed to speak directly to me in a way that no other novelist ever had. The fact that this guy was Scottish and this good was amazing. As being Scottish always seemed a bit naff to me as a young man. Scottish popular culture seemed suffocating, parochial and embarrassing . Banks made it ok to be Scottish , cool even! I proceeded to tear through all the Banks books I could get. His Sci-Fi novels were similarly breathtaking. Was there nothing that this guy couldn't do?
A year or so later my friend and collaborator Martin Millar casually introduced me to Iain Banks at a reading in Edinburgh. We went for a Pint or two at a local bar. Not only is Banks a great writer, but he's also a really charming , smart and funny guy. Which is of course completely obvious if you have ever read any of his work. He's also been tremendously prolific. I even lost track of his output for a few years while I was in Africa and frankly I'm still catching up. If anything he's gotten even better with age.

This morning I found out that Iain Banks has terminal cancer and probably only has some months to live.
That news made me very angry and very sad at the same time. The anger was selfish because I don't want to lose him, the sadness because so many other people will lose him too and for the pain he is going through.

I may hold off on reading my last few Banks books. I want to have at least one to look forward to.
All the best to you Sir and those that love you. I owe you a pint.